MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2017)
(PowerPoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com & request #335.)
TEXT: Luke 1:26-38
ILL. Most of you are familiar with the Calvin & Hobbes comic strips. Well, on one Mother's Day, Calvin is pictured standing by his mother's bed. "Hey, Mom! Wake up. I made you a Mother's Day card." "My, how sweet of you." she says. "I did it all by myself. Go ahead & read it."
She begins to read: "I was going to buy a card with hearts of pink & red.
But then I thought I'd rather spend the money on me instead.
It's awfully hard to buy things when one's allowance is so small.
So I guess you're pretty lucky I got you anything at all.
Happy Mother's Day. There, I've said it. Now I'm done.
So how about getting out of bed & fixing breakfast for your son."
Signed, "Calvin."
"I'm deeply moved." said his mother. "Did you notice the part about my allowance?" He asks.
A. Well, some of you may feel like Calvin's mother, wondering if anybody is going to say, "Thank you, Mom, for all the good stuff you do." Being a mother is a tough job & we recognize & honor that today.
ILL. One Mother's Day a "For Better or Worse" comic strip portrayed Michael's mother tossing & turning on her bed, thinking about her role as a mother, asking herself:
"Am I too tough or am I too lenient? Do I give in too much or too seldom? Do I listen to what he has to say? Do I nag him too much? Am I really a good parent?"
The last frame shows Michael lying on his bed saying, "The problem with grownups is they think they know it all." No, Michael, maybe not.
B. In fact, mothers recognize all too well that as they send their children off in the morning all kinds of things lie in wait things like drugs & gangs, alcohol & pornography. And they must be strong if they are going to overcome that.
In the past, our educational system encouraged development of Christian principles & attitudes. But in many schools today that is no longer true. Too often, children are being taught that there are no real standards of right & wrong.
PROP. So it's difficult being a Christian mother nowadays. But as hard as that may be, we need to realize that difficulties are not unique to our time. In every age Motherhood has had it's share of difficulties.
For example, look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, & consider some of the difficulties she faced.
I. THE DIFFICULTIES MARY FACED
A. First of all, she faced the difficulty of a tarnished reputation. Mary was not yet married & she was pregnant. Of course, we know the rest of the story - that the child in her womb was of the Holy Spirit, & is the Son of God.
But do you think they believed that in the little town of Nazareth? If you came from a small town you know that juicy gossip is a hot item. And here's this unmarried teenage girl expecting a child. Oh, how the gossips must have enjoyed talking about that!
In fact, 30 years later when Jesus was beginning His ministry, His enemies threw it in His face by saying, "We are not illegitimate children." Evidently they weren't above putting in what they thought was a knife & twisting it.
APPL. On this Mother's Day maybe there are some things in your past that you'd like to forget. Let me remind you. God not only forgives, He also forgets.
Encourage your children not to repeat the mistakes you made, & help them realize that God is a God of mercy & grace. You have had a new beginning with Him, so encourage them to live lives that are worthy of His love.
B. Secondly, Mary experienced the difficulty of poverty. I tend to think that we don't realize how poor Mary & Joseph were. When Jesus was brought to the Temple as a baby for the first time, Joseph & Mary offered 2 doves, the sacrifice of the very poorest in society.
If you have experienced the pressure of trying to buy the things your children want the right shoes, the right designer clothes, & all the other things they may want then take the time to teach them that life does not consist of the abundance of things we pos¬sess.
Teach them that there are other things much more important, eternal things we can't see that will last forever & ever.
ILL. Jean Barron spent several years living in a little mobile home that was pretty dilapidated. She tells about raising her kids in that environ¬ment. Then one day her son came home & announced that his best friend had run away from home.
Jean Barron said, "I looked at my child & said, 'I don't understand. He lives in such a nice house & seems to have everything any child could ever want. Why did he run away?'"
Her son answered, "Well, in their home they have a lot of environment, but not much love. In our home we have lots of love, but not much environment."
C. Thirdly, Mary faced the difficulty of people's hatred for her child, even at His birth. Matthew 2:13 says, "An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' he said, 'take the child & His mother & escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.'"
It was true - when Jesus was born evil was set in motion to destroy Him. The same thing happens today when a child is born, for Satan sees that child as God's gift to you. In fact, Psalms 127:3 says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him."
Jesus said of Satan, "He was a murderer from the beginning..." (John 8:44). And Satan knows that the quickest way to destroy your family is to attack your child who doesn't have the maturity or power to deal with him.
APPL. To protect your children in their vulnerable years you need to monitor what they watch on the TV & know what they're doing on their computers & cell phones.
You may even have to go to school & talk to teachers & administrators about what your children are being taught. You will need to practice discipline, & train them to respect authority, & to grow up to be strong Christian men or women.
D. One other difficulty Mary experienced was being a single mom. We don't know what happened to Joseph, or when it happened.
Most scholars assume that he must have died when Jesus was in His teens, for the last time he is mentioned was when Jesus was 12 years old & in the Temple at Jerusalem. After that trip, Joseph is never mentioned again. So Mary became a single mom, raising Jesus & their other children by herself.
SUM. I want to say to single moms, our hats are off to you. You're having to be both mom & dad to your kids. And when you get up early on Sunday morning & go through all the effort of getting your children ready for church that's double work for you, & we want you to know it doesn't go unnoticed. May God bless you & your children for what you're doing.
II. THE RESOURCES MARY HAD
Mary faced many difficulties, but she also had some valuable resources.
A. Her first resource was a strong commitment to doing God's will. In Luke 1:35 the angel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, & the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."
Then in vs. 38 Mary answered, "`I am the Lord's servant...May it be to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." Mary knew that the baby in her womb was God's only begotten Son, & that by giving birth to Jesus she was doing exactly what God commissioned her to do.
ILL. James Keller says, "Every mother has the breath taking privilege of sharing with God in the creation of new life." And when God places a child or children in your arms, His will for you is to bring them up in a home where they will know God & His word, & Jesus Christ as their Savior & Lord.
B. Secondly, Mary had the blessing of Jesus being an obedient child.
Hebrews 4:15 says, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin."
The best thing you can give your mom on Mother's Day is to be loving & obedient. It's better than cards, better than flowers, better even than chocolate just be a loving & obedient child!
That's commanded in the Scriptures. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." (Eph. 6:1) And Luke 2:51 tells us that Jesus was obedient to them.
ILL. I like the story about the little boy who came into where his mom was & announced that he had 2 pieces of candy. She asked, "What are you going to do with them?" He answered, "I'm going to eat them."
Thinking this was a great teaching opportunity, she said to him, "Don't you think you ought to share the candy with your brother?" He answered, "I don't have enough to share. So I'm going to eat them myself."
Well, it was obvious that he needed to be taught about generosity. So she asked, "What do you think Jesus would do if He had 2 pieces?" He answered, "I think Jesus would make 2 more pieces of candy & give them to His brother."
We don't always do the right thing, do we? But it would be great, wouldn't it, to have an obedient child?
C. Thirdly, Mary had a loving & supportive husband. After the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, & told him the circumstances of her pregnancy, the Bible says, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him & took Mary home as his wife" (Matthew 1:24).
Now, I've always imagined that Joseph was a caring, supportive man in Mary's life, & as long as he was alive, was there to meet her needs.
ILL. Billy Graham said that his favorite Mother's Day story is of a husband who was not very attentive to his wife. But one day he started feeling guilty about that, & decided to change. So on his way home from work he bought a box of candy & some flowers to surprise his wife.
He walks up to the door & rings the doorbell. She opens it, & there he stands, candy in one hand, flowers in the other, singing, "I love you truly, truly, Dear." Instantly she starts crying, big old tears just gushing out of her eyes.
She sobs, "Oh, Harry! Everything went wrong today. We had a leak in the plumbing. The kids were terrible. The house is a wreck. And now you come home drunk!"
May I say to all the husbands & fathers here: The best thing you can do for your wife, is not just to give her flowers & chocolates & cards, but to be supportive of her, to pray for her, to encourage her, & always to be there for her.
D. Finally, Mary had a close friend who encouraged her. Luke 1:42 tells us that "In a loud voice (Elizabeth) exclaimed: 'Blessed are you among women, & blessed is the child you will bear!'"
If you remember, while Mary was expecting Jesus, she went to stay with Elizabeth, an older relative, who was also expecting a child. The baby that Elizabeth was expecting would grow up to be "John the Baptist." And they spent about 6 months together encouraging one another.
"Encourage one another daily" the Bible says, "as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)
If we become discouraged, it becomes easy for sin to harden us, & the deceitfulness of sin to take over our lives. So we need to encourage the moms today, & help them realize they're doing a job that no one else can do.
CONCL. Yes, today is a very special day! I know that for many, Mother's Day is difficult. For some it's because children weren't possible. For others, Mother is no longer physically present for us to honor, & for some, Mother wasn't the perfect picture of Christ's love in your home.
But on our journey through life nothing can compare with the impact made by our mothers. Their words, for good or for bad, are never fully forgotten, & the memory of their presence lasts a lifetime.
And here's the good news: We may have imperfect families here, but one day we'll have a perfect family in heaven with God as our Father, & Jesus, as our elder brother. We'll live in a perfect environment with all of His family who have gone on before.
So hang in there! God's love & power is available to you, & He will help you. God bless you on this very special day.
INVITATION: If you're here & you're not a Christian mom, dad, young person, whoev¬er you might be we extend the invitation of Jesus, & invite you to come to Him & accept Him as your Savior & Lord. Will you come as we stand & sing?
